I have no idea how I’m just now discovering Vitacost, but I’m pretty darn excited about it. Keep reading and I’ll tell you all about it – including how you can get $10 to spend there on your own groceries! I’ve been focusing on our grocery bill this year, working to reduce the amount we spend on food, while not compromising on quality. I’ve stocked up on some bulk items (there’s a gallon of coconut oil in our pantry right now, and a gallon of green Tabasco sauce on its way – no more little jars of either of those for a while!) and eliminated some of the more expensive items from the shopping list all together (bye bye gogi berries). But mostly I’m focusing our grocery dollars on sale items and forcing myself to shop at more than one store. With very few exceptions, everything we buy is organic and I’m not changing that. But I’m finding that even within the parameters of only buying high-quality, organic food, I can still spend less than I used to on groceries.
I sat down at the computer a couple days ago to see if I could find canned coconut milk online. My local store sells organic canned coconut milk for between $2.30 and $2.80 a can, depending on whether it’s on sale. I thought if I could find a place selling it by the case online, it might be less expensive. We go through a lot of it, and it seemed like a candidate for stocking up. My internet searching led me to Vitacost, and I ended up buying almost all of the non-perishables that were on my grocery list for today’s scheduled shopping trip. Their organic section has 2230 items in it – it’s a very well-stocked store. I got organic coconut milk for $1.69 a can! I got our boys’ toothpaste for about 40% less than it costs me at the store where I normally shop. I got soap (including Dr. Woods liquid soap, which I’m very excited about. Tons of great reviews comparing it favorably to Dr. Bronners – which we love – but for a lot less money), dishwashing soap, tea, mustard, hemp oil, evening primrose oil, red raspberry leaf in bulk, several bulk spices, and even a bag of mocha Teeccino as a treat for myself. I still have to go shopping today for fresh produce and cold items, but my trip should be much faster and easier. The stuff I bought from Vitacost has already shipped – for free! They don’t charge shipping if you spend at least $49 (as long as you’re within the 48 contiguous United States). And it was all much less expensive than what I normally pay.
Anyway, to say that I’m excited about this is an understatement. It will definitely change the way I shop. I’ll still “go” shopping for perishables, but I can do the rest of my shopping from my living room at 11pm after my boys are asleep. So much easier, and a lot less expensive. Unlike a standard grocery store, my “shopping cart” on Vitacost updated my total each time I put an item in it, so I was able to see exactly how much I was spending as I went along. Before checking out, I removed a few items in order to bring my total down to my target amount. I liked the running total – definitely helps to prevent impulse buys if you’re trying to shop within a budget.
So now for the exciting part! Vitacost has an affiliate program, which I thought about doing. But they also have a referral program where I can refer new customers and we each get $10 to spend on our groceries at their store. I like that idea better. Affiliate programs only financially reward the referrer – I love that this program rewards you and me equally, with ten dollars apiece. You have to sign up for their referral rewards program though this link in order to get the ten dollars. Once you sign up, as long as you make a purchase within 60 days, you will be able to spend the $10 towards your purchase. You also have to be a new Vitacost shopper in order to get the rewards bonus.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
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